The Coffee That Helps At 4 Pm But Hurts At 11 Pm

It's 4 pm, and you feel your energy dropping. You feel frustrated and sleepy, and you have a long list of tasks, yet you start losing your concentration by 4 pm. Then you get up and head straight for the coffee; you drink it and feel awake again.
But later, at 11 pm, you still do not feel sleepy.

You feel tired and are in bed, yet you still can not sleep because your mind remains awake.
Could the reason for this be the 4 PM coffee?
For many people, A cup of coffee at 4 PM is a solution for their fatigue and refocuses their concentration on work again.

And there is no doubt that coffee truly wakes up our brain and prevents fatigue; however, it has a long half-life, taking about 5–6 hours to leave our system. That is the reason why we struggle with sleep at 11 pm. Its effect varies from person to person, depending on factors like their metabolism, the amount of caffeine consumed, and their sleep cycle.

Why Does Coffee Make You Feel Awake?

Coffee helps many people fight off their evening fatigue. Now, the question is: how does coffee prevent sleepiness or tiredness? Coffee prevents sleepiness, but its affects as per the amount of caffeine consumed. When we consume caffeine, it blocks the brain chemical called adenosine, which produces sleepiness.
That is why 4 pm coffee boosts your energy and keeps you awake, giving you an instant energy boost so you can focus on your work.

How Does It Affect 11 PM?

At 4 PM, when energy levels go down, many people consume coffee to deal with their tiredness and boost their energy. But caffeine stays in our body for several hours, and it blocks the adenosine receptors. Adenosine is a brain chemical that creates sleep pressure during the day, which biologically makes us feel tired.
Drinking coffee in the evening may disrupt our sleep cycle or our ability to fall asleep, reduce the quality of sleep, and disrupt good sleep.
Caffeine has a half life cycle upto 5 to 6 hours and 7 hours in some people. If you consume caffeine in the evening, it remains in your body for up to seven hours and can keep your brain active; even if you do manage to fall asleep, your sleep quality is disrupted.
That is why coffee can affect your 11 PM.

Signs That Your 4 Pm Coffee Is Affecting Your 11 Pm

If you consume coffee every evening and have trouble sleeping, or feel tired even after sleeping, these are some signs you should not ignore:

• It is taking longer than usual to fall asleep, or feel harder to fall asleep even if you are tired.
• Feeling tired in bed, but unable to fall asleep
• You do fall asleep at night, but then you wake up in the middle of the night.
• The next morning, you feel very tired, and even after sleeping, you still feel exhausted.
• You feel tired due to a lack of sleep, and then you turn to coffee to feel awake again.

It's not necessarily coffee that's the cause. It could be stress, screen exposure, the food you consume, your physical activity throughout the day, and other lifestyle factors that can affect sleep. 

If you conduct an experiment- noting the timing of your coffee consumption and observing your sleep patterns accordingly- and find something, what is wrong with that?

What To Do If You Feel Your Coffee Is Affecting Your Sleep Cycle 

While there are many reasons for a disrupted sleep cycle, such as stress, screen exposure, and other lifestyle factors, if you notice that your evening coffee is the cause, here are some things that can help prevent your sleep cycle from being affected:

• Take a short break: It is normal for your energy to dip in the evening, so there is nothing wrong with taking a short break when you feel your energy draining. Take a break to rest your mind; this helps prevent exhaustion and can also help you avoid relying on caffeine.
• Drink water: You can drink water; it will help your body and brain function effectively, and you will feel less tired.
• Take a short walk: You can also take a short walk; changing your environment will make your brain feel better, allowing you to focus on your work more effectively.
• Change the timing of coffee consumption: Consuming coffee is not wrong; you can still drink it even if you know it disrupts your sleep, just consume it at least seven hours before bedtime or in smaller quantities.

If you feel that your sleep cycle is being affected by coffee, you can follow these steps; they may help improve your sleep cycle or your ability to sleep. 

Ayurveda’s Perspective On Evening Stimulation

According to Ayurveda, a routine (Dincharya) is crucial; the system places a primary focus on it. In this context, getting adequate sleep (nidra) is essential for a good routine. 

As per  Ayurveda, the evening is a time when energy levels gradually decline; however, since Ayurveda places great importance on sleep, it holds that adequate sleep enables one to overcome that fatigue.

But in modern life, everything is the opposite: late work, late food, and late sleep, which is very strange for the whole routine, so there will definitely be tiredness or evening stimulation because the routine is completely spoiled.
Ayurveda does not view coffee consumption negatively; if a person maintains a proper routine and controls the timing and serving size, it will not harm the sleep cycle.

Is Coffee A Villain?

It would be very easy to call coffee a villain after this, but is coffee actually a villain?
The answer is no; calling coffee a villain is not appropriate.

Many people thoroughly enjoy drinking coffee; they like it, and there is truly nothing wrong with consuming it. What matters, however, is the quantity, the timing, and how your body reacts to it.

If you consume it at 4 PM and find yourself staring at your ceiling at 11 PM, it might be incorrect to blame the coffee solely; your physical inactivity, lack of hydration, or other lifestyle factors could also be reasons.
So it’s worth keeping track of the number of cups served or shifting the timing of caffeine consumption.

Conclusion

To sum up everything that has been stated so far, coffee at 4 pm can affect your sleep at 11 pm. Coffee contains caffeine, and caffeine blocks the brain chemical adenosine receptor (which creates the feeling of tiredness or sleepiness throughout the day), and this could affect your sleep because caffeine remains in our body for several hours and keeps our brain awake as it blocks the adenosine receptors. You will find that you are unable to sleep even if you are feeling tired and waking up in midnights or feeling tired the next morning. This will be cured if you avoid caffeine consumption, take a short break for a walk, and drink some water, or if you do not want to avoid it completely, that is fine too; just cut down on the amount you consume or make sure to have it at least seven hours before going to sleep. As per Ayurveda, evening stimulation can be controlled if you correct your daily routine (dincharya) and take proper care of your sleep (nidra). Coffee is not the villain; it will depend on how much you consume, when you consume it, and how your body responds. An appropriate amount of caffeine consumption will not cause any harm to any aspect of your body. 

References 

When it comes to the health benefits of coffee, timing may count | NHLBI, NIH

Adenosine, caffeine, and sleep–wake regulation: state of the science and perspectives - PMC

Coffee and sleep: Benefits and risks - PubMed